Backbiting

Backbiting, backstabbing, or tale-bearing is to slander someone in their absence — to bite them behind their back. Originally, backbiting referred to an unsporting attack from the rear in the blood sport of bearbaiting.

In the Baha'i Faith, Christian, Islamic and Jewish doctrine, backbiting is considered a sin. The Baha'i leaders condemned it as the worst of sins as it destroyed the 'life of the soul' and provoked divine wrath. Thomas Aquinas classified it as a mortal sin, but considered it to be the gravest sin that one could commit against one's neighbour. Islam considers it to be a major sin and the Qur'an compares it to the abhorrent act of eating the flesh of one's dead brother.